𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 || 𝙿𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚌𝙻𝚎𝚊𝚗

𝔼𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕖

Chapter eleven

(Seasonal demotivation gets us all at some point)

.-.. --- .-..

Thea slept lightly that night, waking at every creak of the hull. Piper lay at her side, the two having fallen asleep the night before when Leo and Jason were still there. The boys had left sometime at the beginning of the night when Leo had to check on the GPS that he'd set up (and Jason had followed to make sure everything was fine with Leo).

She lost count of how many times her eyes opened and took in the dark interior of her room before the sun started peaking through the curtain and Piper started to wake as well. By then, Thea had gathered up many independent minutes of sleep that would energise her for the hours to come. Thank the gods she skipped out on the quests that were happening that day.

Leo docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences. Antique cannons pointed at the water.

She could almost imagine the horrific events that had taken place many years earlier - just as she did all the places they ended. The earth was, and always had been, a place for warfare and death. Everything living would die at some point, even the world that she now knew.

She and Piper were the first to meet Leo on deck, Jason getting the two breakfast in the mess hall when the girls greeted the sun that hung low in the sky, still rising on its route around and around the world.

"Good luck today," Thea said to the two. "And do come back for me if all goes wrong."

"You suggest we run away and let the world be doomed if this goes wrong?" Jason said from behind, handing Leo a bagel to eat.

Thea shrugged. "As long as I get included in the running away then the world be damned."

"I shall never be too far, my love," Piper exaggerated, her arm over her girlfriend's shoulder. "I could not bear a life without thy light and humour."

Thea looked into the green eyes that looked like emeralds in the sun.

"Consider me assured, Hermosa."

"Ugh," Leo said. "Get a room you two."

Jason nodded. "Preferably furthest away from mine."

"Sounds like a blessing," Thea said. "Then I wouldn't have to hear your sorry voice."

"Likewise," the blond said, taking a bite of his own bagel.

Frank was up on deck, eating a croissant, less than two minutes after Jason, and Hazel followed about five minutes after that again. Not waiting for Annabeth to rise since Percy was to stay, the boys left for the museum, promising to be back by the time the sun disappeared on the horizon.